Ashton Swinford is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of IN THE MOMENT Repertory. Her professional acting career began in Minneapolis, MN when she was cast in the country's first hip hop theater company, The Hip Hop Committee, as a spoken word artist and actor. Inspired by the company's outstanding success, she returned to her hometown of NYC and dedicated herself to the study of acting at the Stella Adler Studio - where she met her mentor and now co-founder of IN THE MOMENT Repertory, professor Robyn Lee. New York has brought her continued success in both the acting and directing realms working with such companies as Manhattan Repertory, The Lark, LAByrinth, Red Fern, and Vampire Cowboys. She has starred in many internationally acclaimed indie features, and enjoys continuing to push the bounds of performance and inter human connection with experimental projects based on Augusto Boal's Invisible Theater work. Ashton also recently published a book with Robyn Lee on her acting technique, entitled IN THE MOMENT: The Art of Being.